O2 have apologised after their Priority ticket website offering customers early access to Peter Kay tickets crashed due to “extraordinary demand”.
The rush for tickets followed the announcement that the comedian would be returning to the stage after years away from the spotlight.
London’s O2 Arena announced that the 49-year-old Phoenix Night’s star would become the first artist in the world to perform a monthly residency there, as part of his first tour in 12 years.
The mobile phone company shared news of their priority tickets on social media at the weekend, writing: “Peter Kay is back on tour. This is not a drill.”
However, messages on Twitter on Thursday pleaded with customers to be patient after the site crashed, leaving customers unable to apply for tickets.
O2 wrote: “We’re seeing extraordinary demand for Peter Kay. We know customers are struggling to get on to our Priority website and app before 10am, we’re working on it. Please be patient, thank you.”
Later, calling the demand “unprecedented”, O2 told customers: “This is by far the highest demand we’ve ever seen for Priority Tickets in 15 years”. Beyonce was the previous most popular performer through O2’s Priority ticket scheme.
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Fans of the star shared their irritation at being unable to access tickets, posting memes, pictures and comments on social media.
One fan wrote: “Would have better luck breaking into Peter Kay’s house, holding him hostage and demanding a private stand-up gig than getting tickets through O2 this morning”.
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While another added: “Wish they would have given priority to people who originally had tickets for the cancelled Peter Kay tour. The struggle is real.”
Others shared the holding message and image that came up on their screen when attempting to register for tickets.
Kay’s last planned 14-month tour was cancelled at short notice in 2017 due to “unforeseen family circumstances”
Despite the public outcry, the mobile phone company insisted that tickets were being sold, writing in a Twitter update: “We are seeing lots of Priority Tickets being sold for Peter Kay to O2 and Virgin Media customers right across the UK”.
While Kay had made a point of keeping his ticket prices low amid the cost-of-living crisis – selling them at the same price as his 2010 tour and starting from £35 – tickets for some of his shows have already appeared on resale sites at inflated prices – further infuriating fans.
Kay will perform a show a month at the O2 from December 2022 to November 2023, as well as dates in cities including Liverpool, Dublin, Nottingham and Newcastle.
The arena gigs will make up Kay’s first live tour since 2010, when he broke the Guinness World Record for the biggest-selling run of all time, performing to more than 1.2 million people.
Tickets go on general sale from 12 November.
Sky News has contacted O2 and representatives for Peter Kay for comment.
Adele has bid a tearful farewell to her Las Vegas residency show, as the Someone Like You star admitted she doesn’t know when she’ll perform again next.
The British singer-songwriter, 36, launched Weekends with Adele at Caesars Palace in November 2022 and performed her 100th show there on Saturday.
Her mammoth run of sell-out shows at the venue, which seats around 4,000 people, has been a success but has taken its toll.
John David Washington says he felt like he had to conceal his desire to act because of the external expectations of him being the child of Denzel and Pauletta Washington.
He tells Sky News it took some time for him to pursue an acting career, choosing football instead to assert his “independence” and create his own “identity” separate from his famous family.
“I’ve been wanting to do this my whole life… but I was hiding it,” he said.
“I had to conceal that passion based on my relationship to the world and more specifically, my folks being in the industry, so I chose ball.
“I loved ball, but I was sort of hiding my love for the arts under a helmet – literally an American football helmet – and so when I wanted to become an actor, when I decided to pursue it, that was a big shock to some people.”
The 40-year-old actor says when he decided to pursue an acting career, he kept the decision quiet.
“Some people didn’t know I was even pursuing it professionally until I got a job,” he said.
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Since switching to acting, John David has starred in a number of notable roles including the protagonist in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Ron Stallworth in BlacKkKlansman and Joshua in The Creator.
He also led the stage revival of the 2022 Tony-nominated play The Piano Lesson on Broadway alongside Samuel L Jackson.
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“He [Jackson] originated the role [I play] in 1987 at Yale with Lloyd Richards and August Wilson,” John David said.
“So it was of great importance for us to learn from both he and Michael Potts about August Wilson. It was a great blessing for me, I think, for all of us to have him present on set.”
The Piano Lesson is the third August Wilson play to be adapted for the screen by Denzel Washington’s production company Mundy Lane Entertainment.
It is part of a pledge made by the Gladiator II actor to make all 10 of the playwright’s works into films.
The Netflixproject is directed by another Washington family member, Malcolm, and stars most of the cast from the Broadway revival.
Set in 1936 Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the film centres on a family heirloom, a piano, that is etched with the carvings of their family history made by their enslaved ancestor.
Malcolm says he started reading the play for the first time during the pandemic and immediately wanted to be involved in the film adaptation.
“I think with this movie, reclamation of story and identity is so central to the theme and it’s something that’s central to my life where I both acknowledge the fertile ground that I was raised on and who I am today.
“That’s what Wining Boy [played by Michael Potts] really is trying to do, he’s trying to build on that legacy, so that’s a story that really resonated with me.”
The filmmaker added: “I take all the gifts that my ancestors laid in front of me, and I’m trying to build something for the next generation to pass down – all of their gifts, plus mine to the next generation and let them build on it.”
Malcolm says his goal was to put family at the forefront of the production. By dedicating his feature debut to “Mama”, he is acknowledging the dedication and sacrifices that mothers make for the growth of their families.
“There’s so much pointing to my mother in particular, who inspired this adaptation so much. I see so much of her life in Berniece’s character [played by Danielle Deadwyler] – and that became a guiding light for me in this adaptation,” he said.
“As we made this thing and started reconnecting with our ancestors, my mum became like a kind of representative of them.
“She’s the matriarch of our family. She tells me about my grandparents and great-grandparents and the line that I come from, and I see them in her.
“And when the movie ends, I want people to kind of have that moment of reflection for their own lives. So in dedicating it to her, I was trying to dedicate it to all mums everywhere.”
Blockbuster Wicked has landed the largest opening weekend of 2024 at Vue International.
The film, starring Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, surpassed both Gladiator II and Paddington In Peru.
It has also had the largest opening weekend for a stage musical adaptation in the cinema chain’s history.
A boss for Vue International said it had seen a “sea of pink and green” over the weekend.
Released on Friday, Wicked is up 60% on Les Miserables’ opening weekend in 2012 and three times larger than the 2022 film adaptation of Matilda.
Founder and chief executive of Vue International Tim Richards said: “Vue has seen a sea of pink and green over the opening weekend of Wicked, which has shown continued high demand for the big screen experience.
“We saw record-breaking pre-sales for Wicked, followed by a chart-topping opening weekend – the biggest for 2024.”
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The film is the first of two parts, with the second expected in November next year.
Wicked and Gladiator II – known together as Glicked – have reportedly failed to beat out Barbenheimer, Barbie and Oppenheimer, in its own opening weekend last summer.